The conventional method of installing an electrical fixture and connecting it to a building's power supply is little changed from the advent of ubiquitous electrification. A user installing such a fixture manually attaches the conductors from the building (often, but not always, positive, negative, and ground contained in a junction box) to the corresponding wires in the fixture, covers any bare wire (as with a wire nut or electrical tape) to prevent unwanted shorts, and then affixes the fixture to its structural support.
This process is cumbersome for the average user. For example, it can require the assistance of at least one other person to (among other things) hold the fixture itself while the installer strips, twists together, and safely connects multiple pairs of bare wire ends, and finally mechanically attaches the fixture to the structure. Oftentimes an electrician is brought in by the user to perform this work, whether due to the user's mechanical inability, lack of experience with electrical systems, lack of time, lack of assistance, desire for safety, or need to comply with electrical codes.
The burdens of the conventional method fall on both residential and commercial users. Residential users typically install or change fixtures infrequently, partially due to the complexity and difficulty of the conventional process. Commercial users face the repeated cost of unwiring and rewiring fixtures. This burden may be particularly felt in industries where fixtures are often updated to match changing decor, such as in the hospitality or restaurant industries.
Another set of challenges relates to the placement and allocation of fixtures. Frequently, a given area in a structure will only have a limited number of places at which electrical sources (e.g. junction boxes, outlet boxes, wired mount points, or wire ports) are installed in the ceiling, wall and floor. This limited number of access points must be allocated amongst lighting, control, audiovisual, switching, control, and power applications. The array of different fixture types is broad and can include lights, fans, speakers, televisions, projectors, audiovisual displays, cameras, computing devices, telephones, intercom devices, electrical outlets, switches, sensors, control devices, and combinations thereof.
Even if there are enough total electrical sources to theoretically service a user's desired configuration, the electrical sources in their current configuration may be distributed suboptimally and difficult or impossible to repurpose for a different application (or even a different fixture with the same application). In this case, the user may have to hire an electrician to install new, suitable electrical sources while existing infrastructure goes unused.
In view of at least the above shortcomings, a need exists for a simplified fixture union apparatus.